Louis woke up in his room in the family burrow. He blinked his eyes until they were blur-free, sat up, stretched, and yawned.

It felt earlier than usual, something must have woken him up.

He walked through the tunnel to the family room, where his room, his two brother's rooms, his Mom and Dad's rooms, and the pantry were connected.

There he saw Lori leaning against the wall.

"Hey Lori." Louis said nonchalantly.

Wait a minute. Louis thought, and looked at her.

"Why?"Louis asked.

"Your Mom's really nice and told me I could wait for you to wake up here." She said standing in front of him.

"What time is it?" Louis asked, yawning.

"It's really early, before sunrise, but only because we need it to be. I usually don't wake up until sunrise." Lori said informatively while fixing her hair.

"Come on." She said, getting up and walking over and up the tunnel to the main room. Louis followed her up and found his mom waiting for them.

Louis' Mom had blue eyes and bangs with long hair in the back that was strait and neat with hints of white and gray mixed in with the dark brown. She was still a bit taller than Louis and Lori, and had darker markings.

After Lori left the burrow she stopped Louis

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" Louis' Mom said excitedly

Louis dropped his arms to his sides and sighed.

"Mom, she's not my girlfriend."Louis said; quiet enough as to make sure Lori didn't hear him.

"Oh, well where are you going?" She asked

"I have no idea, Lori didn't tell me."Louis told her.

"Ok well have fun, but not too much fun!" She said as he was leaving.

When he emerged Lori helped him to his feet.

What took you so long?" She asked him

"Don't worry about it." Louis said looking back at the burrow entrance. There was no way he was telling her what his mom said.

"What are we doing?"Louis asked.

"We are going to play a prank on a saber." Lori said excitedly.

"What? We're gonna be killed!"Louis said in surprise. No one played a prank on a saber; they did not take pranks well.

"I know, but that's what makes it fun."She said. Louis stared at her, and not in the good way.

"I'm kidding! We probably won't die." Lori said.

"I guess we won't know 'til we try." Louis said hesitantly.

"That's the spirit."She said with her hand on his shoulder "Let's go"

VVV

The next thing he knew Louis was standing with Lori behind a bush near Diego, who was stalking a gazelle.

"So," Lori whispered "What's the plan?" Lori asked

"I thought you knew!" Louis whispered.

"Well I have a rough idea, but as long as we get right in his face we'll scare him." She said

"We could…ok, we each quickly go around him on each side, then pop up in his face and scare him. Is that good?" He asked.

"That's perfect, even better than my plan." Lori said.

"What was your plan?" Louis asked.

"Improvise and don't get eaten. You go on his right, and Louis," She said suddenly serious. "don't run into one of us."

"I would not run into you!" Louis whispered loudly.

Lori looked at him and raised her eyebrows.

"I'll try not to run into you." Louis said, embarrassed and defeated.

"Ok, ok, get ready, he's about to pounce."Lori said

Lori peeked out of the bush again to check on Diego. Obviously he hadn't pounced yet or they would have noticed, let alone heard it.

They both got on all-fours and peered around the side on the bush.

Diego lowered closer to the ground.

"Now!" Lori whispered.

They both tunneled around Diego and popped up in front of him.

"Boo!"They yelled in unison.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Diego yelled jumping up in the air and landing a foot away on his toes.

Louis and Lori started to laugh when all of a sudden there was a flash of white and Lori was knocked down. When Louis turned around he saw Shira was baring her teeth and had her ears held back holding Lori down by her arms.

"Gee, I wonder what molehog tastes like." Shira growled at Lori.

"Louis?" Lori said in terror.

"Don't eat her!" Louis said as he ran over, standing in front of them.

Shiras earrings jingled together when she looked up at him. Her expression softened when she saw Louis.

"Oh, hey Weiner." Shira said as she released Lori.

"Wait, that's really your nickname?" Lori asked, now happy she had been released. Louis ignored the question.

"This is Diego and Shira." He told Lori."They are in my herd."

"A herd with sabers?" Lori questioned.

"Yeah, three mammoths, four possums, a sloth, two sabers, and a molehog." Louis said.

"Oh." Lori said in surprise at the odd family.

"Shira, you're not supposed to be pouncing like on stuff like that." Diego warned her.

"Oh, pish posh, it's only been three weeks." Shira said to Diego, who looked at her worriedly.

What was that supposed to mean? Lori thought.

"What are we gonna eat now?" Diego asked.

"We can finish off that deer from yesterday." Shira said calmly.

"Eww!" Louis and Lori said in unison.

"Well you guys eat worms!" Shira said to them. She stuck out her toung for emphasis.

Lori stuck out her toung when Shira wasn't looking and Louis laughed.

"So Louis, who's your girlfriend?" Diego asked mockingly as Shira stretched out in a sunny spot nearby. That's when Lori saw Shiras belly. She was definantly…bigger than other sabers she'd seen. Then it dawned on her, Shira must be pregnant. Lori was not about to ask, so she just assumed. Louis voice snapped her back into the conversation

"She's not my girlfriend." Louis said, annoyed.

"I'm Lori." Lori said.

"It's nice to meet you Lori. Where do you live?" Diego asked.

"I live near The Falls." Lori answered." We moved in a month ago."

"And, how did you guys meet?" Diego asked.

"We ran into each other, literally." Lori responded. They both eyed Louis.

"That sounds like Louis." Diego said.

"Well I think I've been made fun of enough today," Louis said, taking Loris hand and leading her away. "Come on Lori, let's go. Bye!" Louis said quickly.

"Bye Diego, bye Shira" Lori yelled behind her as they walked down the path.

Louis hung his head in disappointment, while Lori was happy to have made more friends. She looked over at Louis and saw the sadness on his face.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked, now worried. Louis sighed.

"No. Everyone always makes fun of me, and I'm sick of it. They always call me Weiner and now they have more material, and I can't stop them."

"Why not?" Lori asked, confused.

"Because I'm…because I'm…" His voice trailed away.

"Oh forget it!" Louis said. He kicked a rock in frustration..

"No, come on, what is it?" Lori asked gently "Just tell me." She stopped walking and when he turned around he could see the worry on her face.

"I'm…"Louis mumbled something inaudible.

"What?" Lori asked

"I'm too…" Then he muttered.

"Louis!"

"I'm too shy!" Louis yelled at her.

Then silence took over the conversation, and Louis spoke up to break it.

"And Peaches, one of those mammoths I told you about, is my best friend and never says anything. She's sort of," Louis paused to think of the right word, "Blind, in a sense."Louis said after he was happy with his word choice.

"She never really payed attention to my feelings. No one does…"Louis' voice trailed off and he looked at the ground and scuffed his foot.

That last part broke Loris heart. This kid needed someone to talk to, and if she has to be that person, so be it.

"Louis," Louis looked up at her with the saddest expression she'd ever seen on a molehog.

Ears down, eyes big and watery, a bit of a frown on his face, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"I'll always be here for you, no matter what." Lori said. She approached the sad little guy, and wrapped her arms around him. Just in time to feel a warm tear in her shoulder.

I bet you all just went "Awwww!". yes, I did say 4 possums. I made up more characters than you thought. but other than Lori, Finn, and Brian there is no one else...for now.